A bit of a vintage feel...?

It's so very nearly the weekend.  And so very nearly our half term break - yippee!  Now, don't get me wrong, I do love my job - no two days are the same in our school office, the constant stream of boys, staff and visitors in and out all day create a very unique atmosphere (not to mention the fact that it's also part boarding school so many boys and staff live on site too!).  And we can guarantee that there is also plenty of laughter each day!  But we all definitely enjoy our school holidays - and they are welcomed with open arms! And I'm very much looking forward to next week when I will be leaving husband and son home alone and heading down to Sussex to spend a few days with my daughter!

But I've also been making a few cards as we have quite a few birthdays coming up with family and friends.  I decided to use a Tilda stamp that I haven't used for quite a while, and went for a sort of vintage feel with the papers, etc.

I've coloured Tilda with copics and graphit pens and a touch of pencil

The papers are from LOTV, as is the sentiment stamp. I've added some lace and wooden heart from stash, flowers from WOC and die cut leaves (Joanna Sheen dies). 

I quite like the soft feel with this one, and the different textures and I was pleased to find my die cut leaves matched the paper design!  I hope you like it too! 

And I hope you have a good weekend, whatever you have planned.

Back soon,

Kim x

A little bit of crochet

Hello all, I hope you've been having a good weekend.  Quite a relaxing one here for a change, so even had time to do a bit of crafting yesterday! Today's jobs were mostly outside as the weather was dry - if a bit blustery - and we really needed to do a bit of garden tidying!  The effects of the frequent (!) heavy rain and strong winds have taken their toll a bit on my little garden and it's definitely looking a bit battered and weary with it all.  I'll be so glad when the plants and shrubs all start to come out in leaf and flower - although it was nice to see the determined little daffodils making a concerted effort to cheer me up!  And I also fed the weary old cat (that really lives with some neighbours but never seems to be in the house!) as he seems to have adopted our greenhouse as his 'chilling out' room!

Anyway, I just thought I'd share a little bit of crocheting with you.  I was delighted to sell another crocheted baby blanket recently, and so I thought I'd make another one using the corner-to-corner pattern that I really like

I've used the lovely soft Stylecraft Special DK, which I think is ideal for blankets - soft, durable, washable and reasonably priced! 

The blanket measures approximately 90cm square and I've added it to my Etsy shop.

The crochet pattern is on the lovely 'Felted Button' blog here.

I'll be back this week with some new cards too - yes, I really have been busy! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

Blowing bubbles!

Hello all - and thank you for all your lovely comments after my 'absence'! It's been the usual busy carry-on at ours - I don't think we ever seem to have a quiet week lol!  Our French student left at the weekend - I think they all had a great time here and I know my son and his friends are looking forward to their return leg of the exchange visit when they head to Lyon in March. And then my son has been in London for 2 days this week on an art trip with school, although he's now on the train heading home. And the good news is that my cold is gradually on it's way out - although the bad news is that my husband and son have now got it..... Wish me luck with that one!

Anyway, less waffle!  I settled down to do a little bit of card-making at the weekend and used a gorgeous image from Mo Manning that I'm ashamed to say I've had for a while and not coloured (hangs head in shame....)

I've coloured the image with copics and graphit pens, with a touch of pencil.  I did add some glossy accents to the bubbles but it never seems to show up on my pics (probably due to dodgy photography skills!)

The sentiment stamp & die are from Whimsy, papers from LOTV and a DooHickey die cut fence together with a few buttons from stash.

He's such a cute little chap! 

I hope that you enjoy the rest of your week - and find some crafting time too! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

A sort of hibernation?

Hello all - I can't believe that it's been 3 weeks since my last blog post! I don't think I've ever 'disappeared' from Blogland for that long since I started my little blog nearly 4 (yes, 4!) years ago.  But it's been a busy old month.  I always feel January is a month to sort of snuggle down and hide away until Spring starts to appear. We've all got over the busy, bright Christmas and New Year bit, and then January all starts to feel a little bit grey and static, waiting for the spring to arrive. But I haven't had much chance to 'hibernate' this month!  Once we started back at school I was working extra hours for a few weeks to help out as a colleague started a phased return after illness.  And then I needed to really roll up my sleeves, and start crafting with a vengeance - as I needed to construct and complete my step-daughter Lucy's wedding invitations!  It was a rather unusual mission for me, as I never make 2 cards the same, but this time I had to make a whole batch of 25 invitations exactly the same! A bit of a challenge!  They involved stitching and embellishments, and as soon as I know that Lucy has posted them out I will share the design with you!

I also had a time target to get them completed as we've had a French student staying with us for a week - and so I had to get the invitations finished and my 'craft room' (i.e. the little bedroom!) tidied up.  I just managed it and we welcomed Manon, our lovely French girl, last weekend.  This is a school exchange and our son Jack will be heading off to Manon's home in Lyon in France in March for a week.  So we've had a busy week this week, and not helped by me starting with a stinky cold!  So I'm afraid that poor old 'Tilly's Crafts' has taken rather a back seat whilst I've been busy. But our student heads back to France tomorrow, and as the weather forecast is not looking too bright, I'm determined to have a very lazy, self-indulgent day tomorrow - and try and get rid of this blasted cold!

So apologies for the absence (and all the above waffle - please feel free to skim over all that!) - and I thought I'd share a little card made just before the invitations took over the craft time

I've used the oh-so-cute trio stamps of bears from LOTV.

The papers and sentiment stamp are also from LOTV, and I did a fairly simple layout with ribbon & pearl from stash.

I hope you like it! 

And I hope to get back to some card-making once I can move back into my 'craft room'!  I hope you enjoy your weekend - whatever you have planned.

Back soon (I hope!)

Kim x 

Loving Sarah Kay!

Hello all - yippee, it's Friday! It seems to have been such a busy (and rather long) week, back to work and school.  But I'm also doing extra hours at work at the moment, and combined with early morning starts, that means that I am more than ready for the weekend!  I'm just looking forward to some relaxation time and hopefully a bit of crafty therapy too.

I did enjoy making some cards last weekend, using some stamps I haven't used for a while, and quietly immersing myself in some therapeutic colouring and playing with paper and crafty bits!  It's a lovely way to relax, some time to myself with some nice music quietly playing, a hot mug of tea and a heap of pens and pencils! Simple pleasures.  And I used one of my favourite stamps on this card for a special friend of mine who has a special birthday today (so I can now share the card!). Happy Birthday Sarah!

I just love Sarah Kay stamps, and although I have a few, I do struggle to find more so if any of you know where I could buy some please let me know! 

This cute little character was coloured with copics, Graphits and pencil

I'm quite pleased with the soft neutral shades with greens.  The background papers are from LOTV, with some hessian and flowers from WOC. The brad is from stash and the sentiments are from LOTV, and I've added a JoannaSheen die cut ivy corner.

I hope you like it - and I hope my friend did too (although she's away for a few days in Scotland, amidst the snow and rain!).

I hope that you have a good weekend - whatever you are planning! 

Thank you as always for all your lovely, supportive comments.  It's so nice to be able to share crafting ideas and creations, and to see what everyone is busy making!

Back soon,

Kim x 

Cosy crochet blankets....

Hello all - and a very Happy New Year to you! I hope that 2016 is a healthy, happy and peaceful one for you.

In 2015 we had the usual year of ups and downs, with a few health problems and a low point for us was being in a car accident on the M25 in the summer - a very scary experience.  Thankfully we were all ok, despite some bumps and bruises!  But we were also very fortunate to have many 'high' points and much to be grateful for, most involving our blessing of a family, including our son doing so well with his GCSEs, our daughter passing her PGCE and qualifying as a primary school teacher and of course, being blessed with a delightful granddaughter in November!  And I'm sure 2016 will also bring it's share of joys and concerns - I just hope the joys outweigh the worries!

But through all the busy-ness of family, work and home, it's crafting that provides a wonderful 'escape' therapy (although it would probably do my body more good if I enjoyed the gym....!).  I've managed to squeeze in a couple of hours of card making in the last few days before I start back at work next week, and I love my crocheting - a kind of 'yoga with yarn'!  I thought I'd share a Christmas present I made for our daughter Lauren (as she loves her snuggly blankets), using the approximate colours and pattern that the oh-so-talented crochet designer Lucy provides on her Attic24 blog (HERE) but with a few slight variations of my own!

I just managed to get this finished a few days before Christmas (talk about cutting it fine!).  But I love the rich colour combinations and snuggly stripes

It's roughly a single bed size, so plenty of snuggle room!  Made with Stylecraft DK, it's super soft and washable too.

I do like to have blankets about, they always seem to add a cosy, comfortable feel.  And my daughter Lauren was very pleased with it too!  So it has now made it's way down to Sussex and I hope it will be put to good use.  Lauren starts her new job as a primary school teacher in Sussex next week with a class of 8 & 9 year olds - and I'm sure there will be a few tired evenings to come when she'll be glad to get home and snuggle into a blanket with a hot cup of tea!  I'm pretty sure I would be if I had to cope with 30 little ones for the day! 

I'll try and get some photos tomorrow of the cards I've been making and share them with you soon. 

I hope you enjoy the remainder of your weekend - and that the first week of 2016 is a good one! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

Very Special Christmas Crochet!

Hello all and I hope that you had a good Christmas and now have a moment of calm before the New Year!  We had some lovely family time, probably far too much to eat, and survived the awful weather that has been plaguing the north west of the UK! My daughter and her boyfriend have now headed back to Sussex after being with us for a few days and the house seems rather quiet once more.  Mind you, our son is still here of course and I keep hearing him playing his guitar upstairs so it's not really that quiet!  Much as I miss my daughter when she leaves, the one positive of their departure is that I can have my 'craft room' back (i.e. the spare little bedroom!), and I'm looking forward to a few hours sometime in the next few days to do some therapeutic colouring!

I just wanted to share a rather special 'commission' for some Christmas crocheting I was given!  My lovely step-daughter (who made us very proud grandparents last month!) had spotted a very cute project on Pinterest and asked if I could make it as she thought it would be ideal for some Christmas photos featuring the gorgeous Isabella!  How could I refuse?!  So I tracked down the pattern on Etsy and got busy with hook and yarn.

The stocking and hat were made with lovely soft chunky yarn from Stylecraft - and I thought the stocking could always be used later for our cutie granddaughter to put out for Father Christmas. 

But these are a couple of pics of the supermodel herself with the stocking - a bit unsure in the first one and definitely not too impressed in the second photo! It just made me laugh out loud when Lucy sent me the pics!  And I hope they make you smile too! 

Hope you like the project and pics! 

And a quick selfie of son Jack, daughter Lauren and me on Christmas Day! I'm not too sure about my paper hat and apron on.....Can you guess who was cooking Christmas Dinner?

I'll try and get back on to blogger shortly, but we're out again tomorrow and it's my birthday on New Year's Eve (no, I've given up counting!) - I'm hoping I get some quiet me-time to catch up with crafts and blogs. 

Back soon,

Kim x